Wirlu-murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation

 The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has launched an extraordinary attack on Fortescue Metals Group ant the Native Title Act in the wake of Friday’s Federal Court dismissal of its appeal over three mining leases in the Pilbara.

UPDATE: Fortescue Metals Group has vehemently denied claims from a native title group that it is operating unlawfully with regards to Aboriginal heritage at one of its Pilbara mines.

Experienced Aboriginal contracting group Eastern Guruma has teamed up with a new entrant to the sector, Wirlu-murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, to win a $200 million contract in the Pilbara.

MINING construction projects have continued to be fruitful territory for indigenous contractors in Western Australia, with the latest initiative teaming an experienced contracting group with a new entrant to the sector.

Facing a slowdown in mining-related construction work, indigenous contractors are diversifying into new fields, establishing joint ventures and highlighting their Aboriginal credentials. Click through to also see our BNiQ list of 25 major indigenous contractors in WA.

The Wirlu-murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has continued to benefit from being one of Fortescue Metals Group’s preferred indigenous partners, having joined with Thiess to win an $85 million contract in the Pilbara.

Fortescue Metals Group has set an ambitious target of having Aboriginal workers fill 20 per cent of all trades positions in its workforce, on the back of an apprenticeship program launched today.

Indigenous contractor Yurra has formed a joint venture with BGC Contracting to provide services to Rio Tinto’s rail work in Cape Lambert and Dampier, with the value of the deal undisclosed.

Indigenous contracting in the Pilbara is getting more competitive, more complicated and arguably more divisive, as players chase a shrinking pool of work.

Recent annual meetings have failed to resolve long-running divisions at two of WA’s most important Aboriginal corporations.

The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which has been mired in years of controversy, has been referred to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations after the Supreme Court found it did not have validly appointed directors.

The Supreme Court has appointed a receiver to take charge of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation in the lead-up to a general meeting set for next month to settle a long-running dispute with a breakaway organisation backed by Fortescue Metals Group.

A long-running dispute involving the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation and Fortescue Metals Group is set to continue after YAC members re-elected a bloc of directors who had recently been replaced by a court-appointed receiver.

Indigenous corporations in Western Australia have experienced a fall in average income for the first time in five years, though the state’s largest Aboriginal corporations, listed in the BNiQ Search Engine, have defied the downturn.

Fortescue Metals Group is likely to lodge an appeal after the Federal Court recognised the Yindjibarndi people have exclusive rights over Pilbara land where the company operates the Solomon iron ore operation.